Disasters & Accidents

At least 13 children injured due to electrocution in festive procession in India

New Delhi, Mar 8 (EFE).- Fourteen people, including 13 minors, suffered burn injuries on Friday after they were electrocuted during a Hindu festive celebration in the western state of Rajasthan in India.

The children suffered varying degrees of burns due to the electric shock, police officer Amrita Duhan told reporters.

The officer of Kota district, where the incident occurred, said of the 14 injured, two are in critical condition.

“One of them has suffered 100 percent burn injuries (throughout the body), and another has 50 percent burns,” the officer added.

Except for a 25-year-old adult, the rest of the injured are minors, aged between four and 14 years old.

The incident occurred when a pipe, about 20 to 22 feet (around 3 meters) high, that was being carried by one of the children in the procession “touched a high-tension cable.”

In an attempt to save that child, other children gathered around, and in the process, all of them were electrocuted, Duhan said.

Videos collected by local media outlets showed several adults carrying minors to the emergency rooms at a nearby hospital in Kota.

The health minister of Rajasthan, Heeralal Nagar, said a special team would investigate if the accident occurred due to negligence in the electric wiring.

The procession was part of the Mahashivratri celebrations, an important annual festival honoring the Hindu god, Shiva, that begin Friday night. EFE

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